Lieutenant MALAK IBN NOEL (Navy Chaplain): What's up, Doc?ANISA MEHDI: You might not recognize him as a clergyman at first glance ...
Lt. NOEL: I'm a chaplain, I work for God, it's like that.
MEHDI: ... glad-handing his way around a medical clinic at Naval Station Norfolk. They know him here as "Chaps," the first Muslim chaplain or imam in the U.S. Navy, Lieutenant Malak Abdal Muta'ali Ibn Noel.
Lt. NOEL: ... on a fast, but that's 30 days out of the year. The rest of the time, you just like, fatten up, boy.
MEHDI: He's feisty and fun, completely catholic -- small C -- in his approach to the chaplaincy. Imam Noel doesn't discriminate when it comes to God's people.
Lt. NOEL: And if you're gonna minister, you got to get out where the people are. When you're -- when you're fishing, you can't sit at home and hope you catch a fish. You got to get out there where the fish are at.Unidentified Man #1: He's one of the most energetic, caring chaplains that I've ever met. And the patients and staff both here love him a lot. They look forward to his visits.
Lt. NOEL: Thank you. I appreciate it so much. You guys are so good to me.
I am not here for logistics. I am not here as an operational guy so much as I am here for spirituality, for moral and ethical presence. And so that's what I bring to the corps, to the mix.
MEHDI: Noel was ordained as a navy chaplain in 1996, three years after the army named its first Muslim chaplain. But Muslims have been in the service at least since the Civil War, and perhaps since the Revolution. It took the Gulf War in 1991 for Muslims in the military to gain official recognition.
Lt. NOEL: I think after the Persian Gulf War -- and war tends to get a lot of people very spiritual -- they saw what the population was. They saw that there was a genuine need, they saw there was an -- actually a sincere and devout body of Muslims practicing Islam.MEHDI: No one in the military is required to declare a religious affiliation, but of those who have, the navy reports that less than 1 percent are Muslims. For comparison, it also reports that less than 1 percent are Jews. Chaplain Noel says that here on the base, the numbers of Muslims are growing, just as they are in the United States as a whole.
Not only did the Gulf War result in a growing awareness of Islam, but it presented a potential dilemma for Muslims who fought against Iraq, a mostly Muslim nation.
Mrs. ELIZABETH NOEL (Mother): So he said, "I've joined the Islam faith." So I said, "Monroe, if this is what God has led you to and this is your choice, I have no problem with it, because as far as I'm concerned, we're all serving the same God. So as long as you put God first in your life, I'm satisfied with it."
Commander DAVID GUNDERLACH (Navy Chaplain): People of faith tend to be a little bit more accommodating toward other human beings. And if you let it, the navy will provide probably a better atmosphere than some other places in which to do that, precisely because we coexist here.
Lt. NOEL: Is it a war plane in opposition to who we are, or is it a war plane supporting who we are? Is it defending our right to be who we are? This testimony to the military, to the United States government, embracing Islam, that is the word that's going out for the Muslims in this area. I love the military. God has selected me to do what I do and he has put me in the military, 'cause if I'm working for God, I would not be here without his -- his blessing.
